Consumerism vs 'The Story of Stuff'

I always wondered how a consumerism economy such as in America, was sustaining for such a long time. How can a society as a whole have this kind of a culture!

Why do Americans love shopping (more than people in many other countries)?
Why is it so easy to throw away stuff and buy new stuff in this country?
Why is it cool to have the latest electronic gadgets?
Why isn't it frowned upon when someone buys a new car every 6 months?
Why is it that people(especially the youth in cities) in countries like India are falling for this kind of culture and habits?

I got answers and better insight into the aftereffects of this from 'The Story of Stuff'. A must see for everyone who thinks that I've gone nuts by asking such questions. For others...hmm... you will anyway watch this.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Taslima Nasrin

Taslima Nasrin - when I was in school, she was all in the newspapers. Her book Lajja(Shame) was released and the government of Bangladesh had banned it. The feminist in me got attracted and influenced by her. Reading Lajja was the next best thing I did. The book touched me deeply. I couldn't accept the atrocities people could do to each other in the name of religion. Anyway, my respect and adulation for Taslima grew and I watched her struggle over the years. When she came to India, I was amazed at how our country supported and stood by her. Little did I know that people had motives behind supporting her. The same vote-bank politics that supported her, has now thrown her out of India to win the fundamentalist's votes. Politics and the vote bank have become so important in our country, that you never know when someone is doing a deed just out of sheer humanity. 'Secular' India took a stand to support fundamentalists instead of Taslima.

It's heartbreaking to see such a great courageous mind being suppressed. It hurts to see death threats being issued by Indians and it hurts more to know that the Indian government wants her to leave India, because Muslim organizations do not like her in our country. The government cannot listen to such organizations that use violence to meet their requirements. Where will our country go if people start using this method to get everything that they want?

July 29, 1994, it is said that 200,000 people demonstrated in Dhaka demanding that Taslima Nasrin should be hanged. That's a lot of people. Just to see one person die(which is what will happen to all of us) why are we spending so much energy? If a small percentage of these people could really open their eyes and see what she's talking about and either prove or disprove it, that would make sense.

I read Lajja again when I was in college and then shared my book with friends and cousins. I haven't read any of her other books. In all these years, when Taslima called Kolkata her home, she would appear in the newspapers once in a while. I was not madly following her life or books, but everytime I see her in the news(even today), I'd cherish my childhood feeling of idolizing her. It is a must read book.

Some of her books can be read online at
http://taslimanasrin.com/

Letter from Salman Rushdie to Taslima when she first received the 'fatwa' in 1994
http://humanists.net/nasrin/rushdie.htm

Let Humanism be the other name for Religion - Taslima Nasrin

Eyes

A friend mentioned how he was attracted by Sadhguru's eyes - very powerful. True, his eyes are really magnetic. More than the normal times, when I saw him at Sathsangs or during BSP, it was FIRE. There was so much love, affection, care and something very intense about it.
Well, the reason I'm blogging this is not to write about Sadhguru - for many know it. If you have not seen him, then these last few lines would mean nothing. The reason I'm writing is because this friend mentioned that he finds my eyes also very powerful. Oh yeah, I thought to myself, he should have seen me when I am confused or upset. No one would even want to look at my eyes - they would be so dull.
I then told him that everybody's eyes have that charm and power, just that they cloud their eyes with their own thoughts. If we can go beyond those thoughts, we can see the true being. If only we can see it, there will be no fights or destruction in this world.

Fun stuff

What Your Flip Flop Says About You

You are an outdoorsy person. You feel most comfortable in nature. Beautiful scenery and good weather always brighten up your day. Being outside allows you to feel calm and connected to the world. Problems don't seem so big when you realize how small you are in the scheme of things. Your ideal warm weather place: Costa Rica

The Flip Flop Test

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now. For you, falling in love has never been easy. You can only fall for someone who is very patient and persistent.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Spirituality in Democracy

I was watching Vaibhav Shiva DVD, in which Sadhguru talks about how in early days, the Kings nurtured Spirituality. That's when, this thought just flashed through my mind. In India, the Kings encouraged and supported Spirituality. This was done not to win any election, but just to develop spirituality. However, in the last few decades, governments and other political parties have been developing/supporting a particular religion just to gain mass support. There is no spirituality in this.

I see that in this century, it's with common people's support that spiritual organizations have been growing. Then I realized, oh yes, people are the Kings in our country - that's democracy for us. So no wonder the common man - the King of today's India - is nurturing Spirituality.

P.S.: Please do not argue with me if common man is really the King of India. That's a theoretical statement which holds true atleast in the context of Spirituality.

பணமும் வாழ்க்கையும்

பணம் சம்பாதிக்க வாழ்க்கை வாழ்வதோ
வாழ்க்கை வாழவல்லவா பணம் சம்பாதிக்க வேண்டும்??

Orange man

A nice outcome of my 6 week long vacation in India. As a friend commented, this is what I did with lot of time and a creative mind(actually I copied this idea from a email forward) .

Food for the future world

I visited my Aunty who recently constructed a home in Erode. The vegetables in her garden were very good and that's when I was told that the house is on a 'nel vilaiyum boomi'. Recently my cousin brother divided his agriculture land into many plots and sold them away. Even in the current world situation, we know very well that we do not have enough fertile land to produce food for the growing population. What with all these lands turning to residential areas!

I cannot blame my aunty or my cousin for doing this. My cousin said that he cannot profit from agriculture, since there is no support from government. Also, he mentioned how the yield has come down drastically in the last 2 decades, due to the use of fertilizers. Even though they have enough water to cultivate the land, they are unable to see any money, so he was left with no option but to sell it.

If this continues, where will the whole world go for food? Will we have enough land to feed the future?

Also check this...
http://deepakktsnapshot.blogspot.com/2008/04/global-famine-warning.html

Value of 'One' life

Last week I was reading a news article on riots in a Asian country. It was about how local people claim that more than 100 people were killed by the riot police but the government claims that 'ONLY' 18 people died. I have been reading such statements since the day I started reading newspapers. However, what stuck me this time is that people are so bent upon statistics even when it comes to lives. Someone claims 100 people have died, but the government comes back to say that lesser people died - how does that matter? Even if one life is lost, it is very bad. What is the point in playing with numbers!!

Project Green Hands - Gift of trees

Gift of trees - this is a great idea proposed and implemented by Isha volunteers. It takes US$1 to nurture a sapling and plant a tree in India(PGH is now spread across Southern India). US volunteers who wanted to participate in this effort to bring 33% green cover to Tamilnadu, decided to spread awareness and do some fundraising. Gift of Trees is one wonderful idea. We can buy a Gift of Trees certificate for different denominations($10, $20, $50, $100, etc) and send it as a gift to a loved one. Christmas, Pongal, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentine's day - there are many occasions when we would want to buy gifts/cards/bouquets. Instead, if we can buy this certificate, Isha's 'Project Green Hands' will plant 1 tree for every dollar in honor of the person who receives the certificate.

You can contact me if you are interested in getting these certificates for your loved ones.

http://www.ishafoundation.org/ProjectGreenHands